Ke Garne?

I tried to go to Bhaktapur, a medieval Newari village in the valley today, but it didn't work. There were strikes for most forms of transit, and getting in and out of ring road, which circles Kathmandu and Patan was impossible, as mobs were apparently throwing stones at cars. A friend from my hotel saw me in the lobby, and decided to come with me, but after a rickshaw ride to the bus station, we figured out we couldn't make it. We decided to go to the zoo in Patan instead, and in a long series of events, mostly involving a different rickshaw driver who didn't know how to get to the zoo, we wound up with miniature accomplices; two street urchins who were very surprised that I answered their (English) questions in Nepali. They showed us how to get to the zoo, and informed us that they were going in to. We walked around with them, took them on an elephant ride, and bought them lunch. They were both in school, but their parents send them out into tourist areas of Patan to sell silk purses on Saturdays. My friend was more disappointed then I was by their inevitable request for 100 Rs (we told them we would give it to them if they paid us back for lunch and elephant tickets).

Pictures are at http://flickr.com/photos/27253492@N04/